This will take some time...

It has been a little over a week since I last wrote and oh what a time it has been. I don't even know where to begin. Last week, my heart broke. One day, I woke up, and all of sudden, my sweet baby boy was no where to be found. It was almost as if someone had replaced him with someone else. My precious, carefree, happy, boy was this constant whiny, tempered, mean little thing. I have NEVER felt ill feelings towards my child, but I tell you what, last week was very frustrating. I perused my baby books, looked for excuses, and prayed that this was all just a little phase that he was going through. Jason and I discussed parenting options daily, progress reports were given each night, and we kept our fingers crossed that this would all go away.

I learned a few things about being a parent last week. First, don't take anything for granted. Rylan is an awesome little boy and we have never really had to "parent" him. I have totally taken the fact that he is so well-mannered for granted. I have definitely not given him enough praise during good, or normal times, and I really had no reason to ever discipline him. Secondly, it is so important to be consistent. I truly believe our consistency in the past has gotten us to where we are today. I thank God that I did not have to face this challenge for twenty months. We are so lucky to have made it to this point. Finally, actual parenting is extremely exhausting. I have "parented" for the past week and a half. That sounds so horrible and I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but my job has been pretty easy up until this point. I now feel like I am constantly having to think on my feet to keep Rylan from getting to the point of being whiny or throwing a tantrum. There is a lot of talking that goes on around here to keep him happy, distractions are given from things that might cause problems, activities created to keep him entertained, and so on. I used to get quite a bit done around here during the day, but not so much anymore. I am exhausted by nap time and I take advantage of that time to get some zzzz's in myself.

With all of that said, I feel like our consistent work over the past week has paid off. Jason and I are a great team and our open communication about Rylan has worked. It felt really good to be away with friends the other night and come home to hear that J had given Rylan a time out as I would have done for a similar situation. The last few days are much better and I think Rylan realizes that the little tests he was throwing at us last week are not going to work. I know we have a long road ahead of us, as any parents do, but I think this was our first real challenge and we made it through with flying colors...thank God!

Through all of that madness, we have also been extremely busy. I have recently taken up jogging as a little "me time" activity in the mornings prior to Jason and Rylan awakening. I have never enjoyed running, but there is something about it at this point in my life that I really like. It could be as simple as getting out to do something for myself, but it pushes me and I look forward to doing it. Last weekend, I ran my first official 5K with my neighbors. It went very well and I look forward to running some more throughout the summer. The icing on the cake was when I saw my wonderful husband and Rylan at the finish line. J had told me not to expect to see them because of projects going on at the house, but there they were. It really meant a lot to me. Love him to pieces.

Speaking of projects, we had a roof extended over part of our patio. We hired a crew to do the framing and shingling. Jason is in the process of completing the electrical and underside. J and I agree that the roof and the pool were the best upgrades that we have made to this house. We love it! It will make Texas summer so much more bearable. Memorial Day brought with it our first real pool party after a hard day of work by the guys. We are going to have so much fun this summer with friends! What a great lifestyle the pool has created for us.

Rylan attended two birthday gatherings this past weekend for his two, two-year-old buddies, Casey and Carter. He had a blast playing at a water park, racing to the car with a storm threatening to ruin the festivities, eating snacks, clapping after "Happy Birthday" was sung, interacting with new people, and doing what toddlers do.

Then there was today: Bayou Wildlife Park in Alvin, TX. Kristen and the boys, Andrew and Casey, picked us up at 9:00. We arrived at the park around 10:15 and almost passed it up because it is literally in the middle of nowhere. We paid our entrance fee at the shack, received two buckets of food, and were given honky tonk directions to the parking lot. After waiting about five minutes for an ostrich to get the heck out of the way we arrived in the parking lot, which consisted of about eight other cars and two school buses. We took the 40 minute tram ride through the 84 acres of wildlife with our two buckets of food. The animals literally come right up to the tram and attack your food buckets. The "tour guide" if you will, instructs you to "hold on with two hands because they will rip the buckets right out of 'em." Absolutely comical! Rylan stood on his seat almost the entire time, except when instructed by the "tour guide" to "hold on tight cause we are going down a hill." Weee... several bumps and jolts later, our tour continued. It kinda felt like a roller coaster. Again, very comical. After the tram ride came the walk to the barn, watching baby kangaroos hop around like crazy, pony rides, petting goats in the petting farm, prying goats' jaws off of Rylan's clothes in the petting farm, lunch, dodging animals to exit the park, and a ride home. What a blast!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful end to your May!